Israel to seek $250bil in compensation from Arab, Muslim countries
The estimate was released in anticipation of the announcement of the Trump administration's long-awaited peace plan, according to the report.
By TAMAR URIEL-BEERIUpdated: JANUARY 7, 2019 05:42Libyan Jewish exile David Gerbi prays inside Dar Bishi synagogue in Tripoli October 1, 2011. Gerbi and his family fled Tripoli in 1967 when an Arab-Israeli war stoked anger against the Jewish state and led to attacks on Jews in his neighbourhood. Gaddafi expelled the rest of Libya's 38,000 Jews two (photo credit: REUTERS/SUHAIB SALEM)
Israel is planning to seek some $250 billion in compensation seven Arab and Muslim countries for property left behind by Jews who were forced to flee their homes in 1948 when Israel was established.Speaking Saturday on Hadashot News, Social Equality Minister Gila Gamliel said, “The time has come to correct the historic injustice” against the Jews from Libya, Tunisia, Morocco, Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Yemen and Iran – countries from which Jews were expelled.Gamliel told Hadashot that she will coordinate efforts to obtain retribution.Israel’s official estimate of the value of Jewish property lost when Jewish communities left these countries is reportedly $250 billion. Of this sum, $35b. is from Tunisia and another $15b. is from Libya. The details of the amounts from other countries will be released soon, according to the report.The estimate was released in anticipation of the announcement of the Trump administration’s long-awaited peace plan, according to the report. However, it was announced Sunday by US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman that the plan will only be revealed in “several months.”Israel is expected to demand compensation for Jewish property left in Arab and Muslim countries as a condition to a regional peace deal, based on 2010 Israeli law, which states that any peace deal with Arab countries or Iran is contingent on individual Jews and/or Jewish communities receiving compensation for what they lost in 1948.Secret valuations of Jewish property in Morocco, Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Iran and Yemen have been conducted over the past year-and-a-half, the report said.
